/2012/02/11/toxoplasma-gondii/

{"item":{"status":"visible","url":"\/2012\/02\/11\/toxoplasma-gondii\/","trash":"","name":"toxoplasma-gondii","parent":"","title":"Cat poop may make you crazy","date":"2012-02-11 13:01:27","filepath":"posts\/20001272_toxoplasma-gondii.xml.json","type":"post","content":"<img class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1273\" style=\"margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;\" title=\"Cat suit\" src=\"http:\/\/www.8bitrobot.com\/media\/uploads\/2012\/02\/cat_guy.png\" alt=\"Cat Suit\" width=\"126\" height=\"59\" \/>Not only is the parasite toxoplasma gondii bad for pregnant women, but it is possibly bad for everyone by changing mental behavior and even increasing the risk of schizophrenia and suicide.\n\nThat's some serious findings and makes you wonder how long it takes for symptoms to appear. \u00a0Is it similar to Mad Cow, which doesn't surface until 10 years after exposure? \u00a0Scary stuff.\n<blockquote>\"The subjects who tested positive for the parasite had significantly delayed reaction times. Flegr was especially surprised to learn, though, that the protozoan appeared to cause many sex-specific changes in personality. Compared with uninfected men, males who had the parasite were more introverted, suspicious, oblivious to other people\u2019s opinions of them, and inclined to disregard rules. Infected women, on the other hand, presented in exactly the opposite way: they were more outgoing, trusting, image-conscious, and rule-abiding than uninfected women.\"\n\n-- <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2012\/03\/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy\/8873\/\">The Atlantic<\/a><\/blockquote>\nSo, it makes you wonder if those crazy cat ladies (that own more than 5 cats) are nuts before owning the first cat.... or if they are victims to the parasite, making them get more and more felines? \u00a0It's a chicken or the egg problem...\n\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2012\/03\/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy\/8873\/\">Read more<\/a> about the research\u00a0Jaroslav Flegr has been doing at\u00a0Pregue's Charles University at the Atlantic.\n\n<em>via <a href=\"http:\/\/boingboing.net\/2012\/02\/10\/cat-parasite-may-cause-give-yo.html\">BoingBoing<\/a>.<\/em>"}}